Akkeshi Seimei Single Malt Japanese Whisky

Akkeshi Seimei Single Malt Japanese Whisky is a high-strength peated single malt from eastern Hokkaido.

The name abbreviates a phrase meaning clean, bright and lively, and it belongs to a mid-April solar term, when grass and flowers come up and the year starts moving again. The final blend was being assembled at exactly that point. Two barleys went in: the distillery's own Hokkaido crop, grown and harvested under the team's supervision, and Scottish Concerto malted to fifty parts per million of phenol. Seven cask types were drawn on, peated and unpeated, roughly seventy per cent ex-bourbon with Mizunara, sherry and wine casks filling out the rest. The average age of the components is four years, and this is the seventh release in the series.

Bright and high-toned for a peated whisky: lemon, green herb and malt with smoke sitting behind, and real heat at 55 per cent. Neat first, then a few drops of water, which pulls the spring character forward. Good with grilled oily fish, or on its own.